Varsity Scouting provides options for young men who are looking for rugged high-adventure or challenging sporting activities and still want to be a part of a Scouting program that offers the advancement opportunities and values of the Boy Scouts of America.

Contents

Organization

Varsity Scout strip. Worn over the right pocket, centered above the BSA strip or above the interpreter strip and below the BSA nameplate.

Varsity Scouts are members of a Varsity Scout Team chartered to a community organization, such as a church or service club. It is led by a youth Varsity Scout team Captain and an adult leader called a Varsity Team Coach. The coach is supported by an adult Team Committee, made up of parents and members of the chartered organization. It is a stand-alone unit, chartered independently of a Scout troop, but the chartering procedure is essentially the same.

Program

Varsity Scouting has five fields of emphasis. A youth member, called a Program Manager, is responsible for each of the five fields of emphasis and works with an adult member called a Program Adviser from the team committee to coordinate each phase of the program. The five fields of emphasis are:

The emphasis is on service, with the intent that it become integral to one's daily experience. Projects are conceived, planned, managed, and carried out by individual Varsity Scouts and/or the Varsity Scout team.

Advancement and recognition

The Varsity Scout advancement follows the same rank requirements to Eagle and Eagle Palms as those for Boy Scouts. Supplementing this Eagle trail, a Varsity Scout is also eligible for the additional advancement opportunity of earning the Denali Award. To do this he must earn at least one Varsity Letter, and serve as Program Manager (a position of responsibility), acting as primary leader in at least two of the fields of emphasis and participating in the remaining three fields.

Denali Award

The Denali Award is available only to a Varsity Scout team's youth members who have already earned the Varsity Scout letter. Denali is the name American Indians gave Mount McKinley, in central Alaska. The requirements for the award are:

1. Be a registered Varsity Scout team member.

2. Advance one rank toward Eagle. If you are already an Eagle Scout, earn a Palm.

3. Hold leadership positions in a Varsity Scout team for at least six months.

4.a. While serving as team captain or a program manager, act as primary leader on at least two activities. Program managers should choose activities in their field of emphasis. Team captains may be primary leaders of activities in any of the five fields of emphasis.

4.b. While serving as a program manager or team captain, demonstrate shared leadership skills by participating in supportive roles in activities in each of the three remaining fields of emphasis.

Uniforms

The traditional Boy Scout uniform with a "Varsity" identification strip above the right pocket and with blaze orange shoulder loops are worn at formal occasions. Many teams design their own T-shirt for outdoor activities.

Scout Oath

Resources

Program Features

Three volumes of program features support the high-adventure/sports program field of emphasis.

Each program feature contains resource materials that will prepare a team for an ultimate adventure or sports season. The high-adventure areas are backpacking, canoe camping, caving, cycling, discover America, fishing, freestyle biking, frontiersman, mechanics, orienteering, rock climbing and rappelling, snow camping, survival, and whitewater canoeing. Each feature contains approximately three months of program.